Robert Morelli and Laura Burke warm up before a match against Hopewell at Springdale Country Club on April 11.
Andrew Huang lines up a shot at Springdale Country Club before a match against Hopewell on April 11.
Freshman additions help rebuild Princeton High School’s golf team
Princeton High School golf head coach Sheryl Severance knew she had some holes to fill after losing three starters to graduation last year.
“We’ve lost a lot of good golfers,” she said. “The year before last, we graduated the best golfer in New Jersey. Last year, the three of them rallied and held it together. We are definitely rebuilding.”
Severance added two new freshmen two the team in Andrew Huang and Evan Hirschman. Once they get a few more matches under their belts, she said, the team will be in good shape.
“They’re still green,” she said. “They have potential, but this is definitely a good learning experience for them. Nerves play a big part in this game. I think we have the potential to definitely improve at least maybe ten to 20 strokes once they get there.”
Eight matches into the season, and that improvement is apparent. The Little Tigers started off the year winless but have improved to 3-5 after going 3-1 in their last four matches.
“We have seen that out scores have been improving each time, so that’s a positive,” Severance said.
Severance is also pleased to be fielding a coed team with the additions of Diane Karloff and Laura Burke.
“Since we don’t have enough players to field a full girls’ team, they will be playing with the guys,” she said. “My number one and my number five are females, and they both have made tremendous improvements in the last few years. I’m really excited that they are continuing to be contenders in tournaments as well as matches.”
Sometimes, Severance said, girls come out to learn the game rather than compete. That is not the case with Karloff and Burke.
“The two girls I have now are super serious,” she said. “I hope to add a girls’ team soon. I’m really going to push for it. Now that we have some talent and girls can compete and go somewhere with it, I’m very excited, and I want to pursue it.”
Huang said having Karloff and Burke on the team adds a dynamic that other all-male squads don’t have.
“It adds diversity,” he said. “I feel like other teams underestimate their abilities. It helps us.”
Burke agreed.
“It helps me become more competitive,” she said. “I like to compete with the guys. In tournaments, it makes it easier for me to compete with girls. I love it.”
Burke is Princeton’s top golfer, and she said competing in tournaments has helped when it comes to playing against other schools.
“Golf is a really good mental game, and it’s good mental training,” she said. “Tournaments make you more comfortable playing against other kids.”
Severance said the lack of physical contact in golf increases the need to do a lot of in-game planning and strategizing. Playing in tournaments against other golfers, she said, is one of the only ways to practice the mental aspect of the game.
“Competing is very important,” she said. “It’s important for understanding the game, selection of shots, how to play in the woods, how to play against another opponent. There is still a lot of strategy and a competitive mindset involved.”
Huang, a freshman, started competing long before he joined the high school squad.
“You definitely get used to the pressure if you start playing in tournaments,” he said. It helps a lot with your game and mental ability.”
As some of the newcomers get a little more acclimated to the competitive aspect of the game, the Little Tigers hope to continue to ride the recent momentum into and beyond the second half of the season.
“I feel like we’ve been pulling together,” Huang said. “Yeah, the matches have been tough, but as a team, we’re still striving to be the best. We’re trying to get there. I think we’ll end pretty well.”
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